Shed your humanity
by StormHD
Summary: What does humanity really mean? Is it bound by race, species, religion? Or is it really good and evil that one is trying to define, and live by. This is the story of Vanessa Miller and her path through life, love, death and rebirth into a world which holds no familiarity to her past.
1. Chapter 1 - Shards of the Universe

**Author note: This is a story that has been developing over the years. I've had notes here and there and finally have decided to put them all together. I aim to build good OCs as well as try to stay as close to the Transformers lore as possible. There will be a mix between Comics, Cartoons (TV Series) as well as the movies, so please understand that it is not a purist writing.**

**I am by no means an accomplished writer. I write for pleasure, I write because the story just begs to come out and it keeps playing in my mind until I lay it on paper. Also this is an MA story. Please keep that in mind. **

**The Story will follow the path of Vanessa as she experiences a wide range of life altering events, ranging from a steep descent to madness, her partial recovery, the discovery of love and the realization of what must be given up in order to secure it. **

Lights, bright lights, one after another cycled overhead. Ears were ringing and everything hurt. Shadows, more lights, maybe people, maybe angels, demons, everything crowding and crawling in front of half closed, dirt clogged and blood shot eyes. There was no way to describe how every limb felt. Solid led would have been lighter and easier to move than one little finger. And the chest, the stomach, the pain was so deep, so sharp and tangible that she thought someone was cutting her open right then and there. There was blood everywhere - on her clothes, on her face, the metallic taste so very predominant in her mouth that if she could, she would have gagged. She had to have been bleeding profusely. That familiar warmth washed over her followed by spells of acute cold and chills that shook her to the core.

"I'm dying…" she thought.

Darkness settled in and the pain… well it just disappeared.

* * *

Doctors rushed in and out of rooms like swarms of bees in and out of a colony. They hurried along, triaging patients as they went, running from surgery to surgery, getting people stable before moving on to the next desperate soul that was clinging to life without much hope. Death filled the air and mixed with the stench of smoke, gunpowder and dust. This was war. Maybe it was won for now, or maybe it was just a moment's breath before all Hell would break loose on this pathetic little rock called Earth.

Many weeks, months even would pass as this city would rebuilt itself, just like any other damaged by the rage of the Decepticons fighting over the AllSpark.

And so those months did pass, with people putting their lives back together, governments scrambling to get policies and procedures in place that would actually assist them when the fight would return. It was not a matter of IF, but a matter of WHEN. And so, N.E.S.T (Non- Biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty) was put in place, and the remainder of the Autobots lined their forces with world governments to assist in defending their new home, our home.

For one man however, time seemed to stand still. Connor Bradly barely had left the side of his fiancé's bed through the weeks that followed the incident in center city. As a result, she had been placed in a medicated coma to assist her body to recover from the sustained injuries. He was fortunate to work with her inside the Information Operations Center Analysis Group within the CIA. As a result, everyone there knew their involvement in the war that had subsided. Not one person expected him to be anywhere else, not after what had happened. He continued to provide any Intel he could to N.E.S.T as the weeks passed, but his main focus was her, and he didn't make that a secret.

His hands came together to rub his tired face, and he felt the scrape of his 3 day old stubble, which was threatening to turn more and more into a beard. It wasn't that he did not care for his appearance, because he most definitely did, but right now, it felt as if leaving her was a crime, and as such, everything else, including his own wellbeing, came second. His piercing green eyes glanced over her frame, so small and fragile, chest slowly rising and falling not by any will of its own, but by the machines keeping her alive. It had been 3 weeks, 3 weeks of pure agony for the man who watched his heart wither away in a hospital bed. That delicious black silky hair had lost its shine, her skin had turned a cold, pale white, her face drained of color and life.

BEEP BEEP BEEP! The monitor screamed and startled him. Connor jumped up from his seat, pain shooting through his legs from not having moved in so long.

"NURSE!" he screamed as loudly as he could before leaning in close to her " Come on Nessa…come back to me" he whispered as the nurse rushed in the room and almost pushed him out of the way.

"She's doing it again" said the woman with a concerned look on her face.

"Again ?" asked the doctor who followed her in. " Don't increase the drug dosage. Hook up the sensors. I want to look at her brain activity. Something, something is trying to wake her up, almost rejecting the meds" said the older man, Doctor Stevenson.

"Do you think is the shrapnel in her body?" Connor asked in a faint whisper, before slouching back down in the uncomfortable hospital arm chair that had served as his bed and Lazy Boy for the past few weeks.

"It could be anything" the doctor replied and assisted the nurse with the brain activity sensor placement " What ever is in her, is not of this world. We can't take it out, and we don't know what it does" he continued for the hundredth time. He knew Connor was just worried, and he would gladly remind the Special Agent of his fiancé's predicament as patiently as he could. Who wouldn't understand that pain?

**Please review. This is really a story meant to bring some peace to my own mind. I appreciate you taking the time to give me your input. Please be polite and constructive. I will be ever grateful for that, and I want you to know that I feel humbled and incredibly fortunate to have any of you read my work. **


	2. Chapter 2 - Through the Twilight

2. Through the Twilight

The sun was blinding, it was warm and yet it felt so artificial, so foreign. Vanessa looked at the ground. It was dark, crumbly beneath her bare feet. FEET! What in the world was this? She bent down and looked at her toes. She wiggled them and stared at them in complete disbelief. Then she heard rumble in the distance. As she looked up she saw the sky rolling with thick clouds, dark and menacing as if the world was trying to tear itself apart. Home… this is home. Those jagged rocks reaching for the heavens were uninviting, and yet she walked to them, stumbling over the rough terrain, feeling something like pain. She felt so fleshy and weak. The city was still showing in the distance, as rough as ever, and still calling for her. When her feet hit water she stopped and looked down. What was this? This body. She reached up to touch her stomach, slid her hands up her bare skin over her breasts. So soft… Her flesh... this was flesh… this was warm.

"Why are you standing there?" called a metallic voice as an Autobot rushed to her, his exoskeleton gleaming in the dim light. His bright green optics were locked on her, head tilted to the side. "Are you going to move? Come on sparkling" he said and extended an arm to her.

Vanessa was frozen in place. She looked at him with wide eyes and reached out her hand to touch him. That familiar feel of the cold metal made her smile. Sparkling… she was no sparkling. Wait…what would that even mean to her? Her mouth opened to say something but she couldn't, as if she had no voice, as if the words were strange to her and she couldn't utter them.

And then the Autobot was gone. There was a feeling of emptiness deep inside her soul, and she felt like she wanted to crumble in a pile and cry. Nothing made sense. Her body was strange to her, and her mind did nothing to help the confusion. Things that were normally familiar, now were foreign, and vice versa. She started running. It was clumsy and silly and she fell every other step. The dirt beneath her was shaking, and every time she tried to get up, the rumble made her fall again. Another Autobot passed her and stopped looking at her a bit confused. Her frail hand reached out to him, or her… she couldn't tell. But this one wanted nothing to do with her. It pulled back and carried on as if nothing happened.

* * *

"How is she?" Connor asked and looked over the monitors.

"Her brain has gone into overdrive. It looks like she is awake, and yet she is asleep. I can't tell if she is dreaming, or simply wide awake. It's so strange" the doctor continued and kept his eyes glued to the monitors.

"What in the world is going on with her?" came a mumble from the nurse as she shifted in her chair and leaned over to check on the machines. "Look at this. All her vitals are good, normal, everything is as happy as can be. You could say she is just doing a sleep study, not being a damn coma"

* * *

"St… STOP!" her mind screamed but when her lips parted something else came out. It was crinkled sound, mechanical and artificial sounding.

Her hands covered her face, and she dropped to her knees. Matted hair clung to her face, but it felt out of this world. Somewhere in the distance the rumble seemed to come closer until the sky lit up with the mushroom cloud of an explosion. The woman scrambled to her feet and took off in the opposite direction of the explosion. It felt as if she was slow, as if everything was working against her. That damn body was useless. Where was the metal, where was the ability to control every little cell within her, to make herself explode towards the clouds, or to slam her frame into the ground with tremendous energy and make the earth crack beneath her? Then the noise hit her ears. Piercing, deafening, and it was the most mesmerizing sound that ever came to existence. She stopped. Slowly she turned to watch what was coming for her. The cloud of dust rising in the air, her hair getting pushed back by the wind blowing straight at her, and the heat- that heat was almost palpable. One frail hand reached out in front of her as if that would shield her from the impending doom of her nightmare, and then out of nowhere, she was swept off her feet.

" No more… no more for you little one…" whispered a voice.

Her eyes opened again to stare up at another Autobot. His face was inches from her as he held her little naked frame in the palm of his hand. Startled she looked up, then scrambled towards the edge of his palms and looked around his fingers. Sun ? How could this be ? How could she be in a meadow, how could she be looking at the most breath taking sunrise over the canyon. There was nothing to say, nothing that could express the warmth and safety that she felt in that moment. The view was spectacular, out of this world. The red rocks sprawled for miles on end in front of her, inviting and teasing, willing to conquered and explored. That warmth of the sun was making her want to melt, and that gentle breeze was so refreshing that she simply laid back in his palm and closed her eyes.

"You can't just go exploring like that sparkling" said her protector. "Tapping into other's spark is dangerous for a young mind like yours. "

Young? Sparkling… again that damned word. And even though nothing made sense, all she wanted was to sink inside this giant machine in front of her. She would have been happy to melt into its very essence and never come out. Her hands reached out to him, still unable to speak words, but chirping metallic sounds that must have amused the behemoth before her. He leaned in and let her nuzzle her face against his, while hot air blew from his vents towards her.

"No more…time to sleep little one" was the last thing she remembered him saying.

* * *

"It's gone" the doctor jumped almost startled by the quiet displayed by all the machines around her.

Connor rubbed his temples and groaned. " This makes no sense."

"Agreed. But now we have some data. If she wants to wake up, maybe we need to let her. Her body has repaired, except for the shrapnel inside of her. Nurse why don't you go and do a shift change with Emily and let her know what the new plan is for our Sleeping Beauty", Dr. Stevenson suggested before turning to Connor. He walked over to the man and placed his hand on his shoulder "We will find out what is going on… I promise"

**Please review. This is really a story meant to bring some peace to my own mind. I appreciate you taking the time to give me your input. Please be polite and constructive. I will be ever grateful for that, and I want you to know that I feel humbled and incredibly fortunate to have any of you read my work.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Breaching the divide

3. Breaching the Divide

" Despite you not being an overly talkative one, it appears that you have found an even deeper silence" , Ratchet commented to Ironhide, while scanning the Autobot for any damage. " Have you recharged lately?" asked the medical officer and stepped closer.

"Stop that", came an abrupt answer from Ironhide and he waved his hand in front of him, as if aiming to dispel the scanner frequency and chase Ratchet away.

"Well at least the attitude is still there. You must be ok" he shrugged before returning to gaze at some massive monitors in the N.E.S.T Autobot command center.

For days they had been restless. It was as if something heavy floated in the air. Optimus found little consolation in the temporary quiet that had fallen over Earth. He knew all too well that the fight was far from being done, despite Megatron lying like the Titanic of Decepticons at the bottom of Earth's abyss. Starscream was still out there, as were many other Decepticons, and while those were around, there was always trouble. There was always a power struggle within the ranks, and neither space nor time, nor planet could ever change that.

With that in mind, they were taking shifts along side the military across the world, monitoring the skies, scanning the cities for any sign of autobot or decepticon activity. With the help of some brilliant CIA Special Agents, and their tribal knowledge passed on through the AllSpark, they were able to zero in on particular frequencies and communication patterns within the airwaves. Not only were those tracked, but also any shift in the energy grid was immediately signaled across the world to the N.E.S.T compounds.

Ratched huffed a bit, machine like sound filling the room when he moved, his steps still sounding like thunder against the cold floors. None of the military were used to how that made them feel yet, but they had learned to accept their new allies just as well.

"Now seriously, what has been going on with you?" He finally turned and posted himself in front of Ironhide, who shuffled visibly uncomfortable and scuffed at him. " Ever since Optimus has gone on this alert, you have been .. oh how do the humans call it… spacing out. Your spark even feels different. I keep scanning you despite your protests, and I find nothing out of the ordinary, but clearly, something is"

"The temptation to shoot you right now is increasing exponentially" Ironhide warned and narrowed his optics. " When was the last time we had sparklings created, harvested?"

"Eons ago… not since the last pulse from Vector Sigma flashed across the world and has released them - when the Autobots were still being born for scouting purposes for the Primes. Odd question. Why do you ask?"

"Because I think there is one close by. Perhaps on this planet but the signature is strange. I may.. or may not, have linked with it" he almost whispered and then straightened his massive frame. "No, I must be losing my programming" he chuckled and waved off the idea.

Ratchet however was not ready to let this one slide. The idea that a sparkling had been brought to the surface through a fissure was a big deal, huge! More could be out there, and it was interesting to know if this one had been harvested, if it had found a host for it, if someone was raising it and training the little one properly. But if a sparkling had been found, it meant that the AllSpark itself was either in a new location after being somewhat melted within Megatron, or it was trying to find a new body. This was not uncommon. It was well known that the AllSpark was not dependent on a host, and that if the host itself, such as the Cube was destroyed, the energy would linger until a suitable place to reside was found.

"Wait a minute" he said and came closer to the weapons specialist " You linked?! You? "

Ironhide sighed, steam and smoke coming out of the ports on his back and his vents, as well as the whine of machinery winding down as he slouched on a large iron table and looked up at Ratched.

"Yes, call me daddy Ironhide" he snarled sarcastically "She … it… what ever it is, linked to me. It is not sure what to do. I found it jumping around from memory to memory and it was terrified. "

"She? How can you tell it is a female?"

"Because It looks human…"

**I am doing this day by day. I will try to post about one chapter a day. Trust me, the story is screaming to come out. I appreciate the time everyone takes to read it. Please stay close by as I will post quite often. To those of you following and adding this story to your favs, THANK YOU. you have my most humble appreciation! **


	4. Chapter 4 - The Awakening

4. The Awakening

**Things are going to pick up more and more from this point on. There will be images that may shock, and scenes that are not going to be the easiest to read, but bare with me as Vanessa descends into madness. Yes there is love, there is desire, passion and heart break, but the road to get there is anything but easy.**

"You look a mess" his mother whispered and ran her fingers through his hair. "Connor, come on. Go home, take a shower, shave, get a decent night's sleep." She added and knelt down before her son as he sat in the chair by Vanessa's bed.

Connor looked up at her and shook his head. He didn't want to leave her, not for one moment, and yet he knew that what his mother as stating was true. He hadn't gotten any better, and since they hadn't increased her medication to sink her deeper and deeper into her coma, Vanessa had been frequently "sleeping" and living in her dreams. He feared she would wake and not find him there. He feared her heart would break with disappointment that he was not as committed as she would have expected him to be.

"There hasn't been any activity in the last 20 hours" said the Nurse as she handed him a glass of water. "Doctor Stevenson will make sure there are people checking in on her on a regular basis. If anything changes, even the smallest of things, we will let you know" she added in an almost desperate attempt to get the man to go home.

People at the hospital felt sorry for him, and yet spoke about his desire to stand by her with utmost respect. There was something noble about a man unwilling to compromise on the things that matter the most, despite what everyone else either hinted or flat out threatened.

There was not going to be a change in her state. The doctor had decided to leave her be, to allow her mind and body to take charge and decide her path, her future. It was up to her to live or die. Relentlessly the man pushed himself out of that dreaded hospital arm chair. He leaned over her and kissed her forehead. It was cold and salty from the sweat that seemed to come and go. Connor sighed painfully and took one last glance at her in that bed. He swung his coat over his shoulder before shaky hands pushed open the doors to her room. For the night he was done. It was late, and he needed a break, despite his protests and stubbornness. Angelica, his mother smiled and welcomes him with a warm embrace as he came into the hospital hallway.

"Lets go home son" she whispered and kissed his cheek.

* * *

"Where are you?" she screamed on the edge of the canyon. The same sounds of mechanical chirping came out, but her mind was speaking words. " I need you!" she called again and started running down the edge of the Grand Canyon.

Her feet kicked up the dust and small rocks. They crackled lightly as they took the seemingly never-ending tumble down to the bottom of the grandiose formation. Vanessa was more and more aware of herself, who ever or what ever she had become. These dreams were keeping her alive, and even though she found little to no familiarity to most experiences, including her own body, she found an uncontrollable need to reach back out to her protector. That autobot's eyes were piercing, bright and comforting. They however, hurt her to the core when ever he gazed upon her, and yet, she could barely survive without him.

"What have I done to you?" breathlessly she cried "Why did you leave me? I need you! " and she fell back to her knees.

The sun was warming her, or so her mind led her to believe. Naked, hair flowing down her back and shoulders, she felt as unnatural as anything. There were not many things she knew, but at this point she knew that she had to find him. Once the panic subsides she stood up. The blinding light made it hard to concentrate on anything other than to shield from it. Step by step, breath by breath, a sort of anger rose within her. There was more to it than to just survive in here. There had to have been more. What was this place? Was this a dream. YES! It must have been. He said it himself, that she accessed memories. A dream… she can wake up from a dream. With the conviction of a holly woman, she stood on the edge of the abyss. Her toes curled down around the side of the ledge and she closed her eyes, arms spread like wings to her side. Vanessa jumped. " I will find you" was the last thing she thought.

* * *

In the darkness … the machines that kept her alive flickered. It wasn't anything noticeable, perhaps a brief fraction of a second, before they settled into the most perfect rhythm that they may have ever seen while hooked up to a living being.

In the darkness…her eyes opened.

**Again thank you so much for reading. Going forward, it will be a bit more entertaining and twisted, and I honestly hope you will enjoy exploring this character as much as I will. **


	5. Chapter 5 - Escape into Darkness

5. Escape into Darkness

**I would like to officially welcome you to the madness. Enjoy :)**

"BREATHE" was the only thought she had right then and there. A mind returned to primal needs, fight or flight being the only instincts that had any relevance at that time. Her body was awake. The AllSpark merged with her very essence had already learned the principles of her body. It had mapped the way every cell worked, the way every circuit in her mind linked. It was all downloaded and re-uploaded into her cerebral cortex, like a computer doing a full restore and reboot from a USB drive. For lack of better words she was running dual boot – human and the AllSpark.

Since she had been confined to the medicated coma, there hadn't been much going on with her body. She simply laid there, not moving in weeks, but fortunately, as the spark within tried to free her from the boundaries of her abundant medication, it also tried to keep her "mechanics" in perfect functioning order. When linked to any biomechanical organism, much like an Autobot or Decepticon, the sparks within had the ability to understand, memorize and control each individual cell, as each cell was a small organism in itself, down to nano-sizes and micro-cells. By comparison, the complexity of the human body was incredibly easy to master. Add a mind that was already prepared, well versed in the understanding of the lore, wired to think, speak and write in the ancient language, and top that with the delicious reality of having a high IQ, and you get the ideal match up. By comparison to most people, who only used a certain percentage of their brain, who were not wired as logically as her, she was a huge upgrade, and a preferred host.

Sadly, at this time, that brilliant human mind of hers was gone, buried within the depths of her consciousness as everything else loaded into memory and only provided basic functions.

"BREATHE!" her body screamed and her eyes open wide scanned the dimly lit room.

She could feel something down her throat, and the lack of oxygen made her go into a panic, as if life depended on getting air, and for the most part it did. Frantic hands raised from her side and tore at the tubes and tape that held the breathing machine connected to her face. She gagged violently, and felt light headed. A surge of adrenaline hit her blood stream and her muscles tensed abruptly. Clumsy fingers curled around the ribbed end of the tube and she just pulled as she slowly sat up, chocking, dry heaving, coughing, but strangely not feeling any pain. As she ripped it out of her, the end of the tube tore against her esophagus, causing damage and bleeding. Finally it was out. She cast it to the edge of the room and then without any control of her motions, leaned over the edge of the bed and threw up. There wasn't much out there to escape her body, but bile and blood came out. The machines that were meant to keep her alive were as calm as ever, as if nothing had happened.

Vanessa could feel them. She could almost touch the electricity within each and every device surrounding her in the room. A quick look at her arms made her cringe. She tore the needles out of her veins, blood now warmly dripping from where the delicate tissue was ripped. When she sat up, her legs gave in. It wasn't because the brain had forgotten how to walk, but because this "mind" of hers had never actually driven this body. Sure it repaired it, but almost like a mechanic restoring a classic, he would never know what it would be like to drive it until the day he took it out for that first test drive.

Slowly she staggered back to her feet. "Easy… like in the dream" she thought and used the bed for support while pulling herself up. Her breathing was heavy, elaborate, and constantly she felt the need to cough the blood that still dripped down the back of her throat. The dream… yes she remembered that, and him. "Where are you?" her thoughts called out to him, but deep inside she knew there was little hope for an answer.

"Get out! Get out now!" was the next important thought to her. Yes she needed to get out. This did not look like a hospital. This was a prison. A prison that spawned bars made up of good intentions, a cell created out of drugs, tubes and needles that maintained her still, locked to a bed without shackles. This was the worst kind of trap.

Bare feet made almost no noise against the cold tile floor. Slowly she opened the door to her room and took a quick glance in the hallway. There was one nurse at a distant station. Easy enough - Without even as much as an effort, a simply thought of distraction came to mind. The phone on the other end of the hall started ringing viciously. It pierced the night with the most annoying of sounds, and the aggravated nurse huffed and puffed her way to the device aiming to perhaps strangle the noise out of it, as if that was possible. Quietly and quickly Vanessa made her way down the hall. Before her eyes she saw maps, hallways, directions, and even if she wanted to understand how she was doing this, she couldn't have. Briskly she followed the desire to escape this tomb filled with machines that prolonged agony. She could smell the sickness in the hospital. It was thick, morbid, and in the wing she was in, many patients were nothing more than shells of their former selves. They had no spark.

* * *

"I'm so excited! And I just can't hide" came the sound of music down the hallway as Bumblebee rolled around dancing to himself to the amusement of some new recruiters who were supposed to train with him.

The young soldiers followed the Autobot like ducklings following the mother duck, and chuckled to themselves while the bot made a goof of himself and overall enjoyed the break from the every day missions. For a while now, the teams took turns with Optimus Prime, based on their objectives, and now,it was Bee's turn to be back at the compound, to spend some time teaching the new soldiers how to fight and deal with the decepticons. The twins were there as well, and mostly Elita-1 loved to hang around and perform her acrobatics for the newbies. Ironhide was out with Optimus, Sideswipe and Rush, as well as Lennox, who still led the forces within N.E.S.T when it came to special operations.

"Bumblebee" called Ratchet and motioned for him and his horde of minions to follow him. "We may have a little something to show your new peons", he added and walked over to the large monitors.

"Hello, is it me you're looking for ?" Bumblebee sang along and Ratchet shook his head.

"I really need to fix your voice box" then he pointed to the readings on the massive screens "You see this? There is a reading of energy very similar to another Autobot out there. It is faint, coming in and out, but if it continues, I would like to investigate. "

"I'll be there for you" Bee replied and turned to the soldiers " Walk this way… talk this way" he chirped and rolled his way down the hall.

* * *

The door was stuck and she couldn't push it open. Somehow, the exit door that she found herself before was locked, maybe because it was a back entrance and after hours, they tightened the place down. There was no alarm on this door. Nothing electric that she could even remotely link to, something that she could control. " I have to get out" she thought and pushed her hands against the door. It would not give. Somewhat panicked she took a few steps back and looked around. There was no way to double back, that much it was clear. This was the exit, and somehow where this door stood, a path needed to be cleared.

"PUSH" she commanded to herself, and pressed against it. Nothing happened. She kept pressing against the door and it was unmovable. That anger inside of her rose again, and it melted so beautifully with her panic. It fueled her need and her desire for escape beyond anything humanly conceivable. There was no way she was going to die in there, trapped like a rat, hooked up to machines that held no consciousness and that functioned without self awareness and purpose. No, she was not that, she was better, and if death didn't find her when she jumped off the ledge of the Canyon, death was surely not going to find her here. With every imaginable ounce of strength, and without any constraint of human pain limitation and self conservation, her muscles tensed into one direction, on one absolutely perfectly timed command. One push, one hit, her entire body straining and focusing on one act, and one alone, and the door flew outwards released from its hinges.

* * *

"IRONHIDE!" screamed Optimus before a massive shot hit the autobot straight in the side, sending Ironhide flying into a building.

Optimus rushed to his side, sward and axe drawn. With swift movements he slid from side to side, dodging the decepticon's attack as it swung his mace like weapon for the Prime's head. One, two, three hits, and before it was all said and done, the behemoth of a robot lay on the ground, head on one side of the decimated road, body on the other.

"Are you alright?" Optimus asked visibly concerned as he assisted Ironhide back to his feet. "what happened back there ? You seemed as if you were not even here"

Ironhide groaned and slowly made his way back up. He inspected the damage to his exoskeleton, and grumbled something to himself. He felt it, felt her. There was pain involved, but he knew that the young one would not even register it, not yet. It was so brief, and it was impossible to pinpoint where it all happened. They were on the other side of the world, and there was no way she was close.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Not sure what happened" he said with about as straight of a face as he could.

His tone was firm and clearly preoccupied, and Optimus knew better than to press further. Whatever it was, Ironhide was not going to talk about it, and even on the off chance that he would open up, it was not going to be now, and in this foreign place.

* * *

The air was cold, the night was dark, and it was lonely. The lights above the street were feeling too artificial, like an intrusion into what was supposed to be a frigid and quiet autumn night. Her body was weakened by the events from earlier, ridden by cold and muscles had torn into her arms and legs. Her current operating state did not allow her to sense any of that, but the feeling of loneliness and the fear had taken a hold of her every so firmly. She ran, or limped, stumbled and scurried like a scared animal, sticking to the shadows. Where she was didn't matter to her. She was alone, bloodied and torn up inside, torn up and trapped inside a body that couldn't handle everything that she was going to throw at it.

The sound of footsteps over cobblestone and through puddles filled the dark alley. A cat startled and jumped while hissing, making its way down into the darkness and the stench. Her breathing was labored once more. Heart was racing. Her breath lingered in the air with each exhale, and yet she felt no cold, no pain, no hunger. Except… except there was hunger for him, need for him.

Vanessa leaned against a large dumpster and slid down to sit against the filthy ground. She brought her knees to her chest and whimpered to herself. Her cries were muffled, but the rage inside was growing again, and already she knew that nothing good ever came when that happened. It was at times like those that her very essence seemed to focus in her chest, and it would emanate outwards, like a pulse of pure life and warmth, and most importantly destruction. Her sobs turned to cries, her cries turned to screams, and when those became unbearable, her hands came to her head and she rocked back and forth howling like a wounded beast. So much pain, so much loneliness… " HELP ME!" she thought.

"HELP ME!" screamed her mind and her fists struck the ground to her side with a wave of energy that dispersed in a circular motion with her at the center. " Help me…" one last whimper before she felt completely exhausted.

Through the darkness she could see little flickers of light and little odd shapes coming her way. They moved awkwardly, unsteady and unsure of their own size. These machines had been touched by her, and she knew it, she could feel a piece of herself within them, as if they were birthed from her very pain. Mixers, a microwave, hair dryer and a couple of toasters slowly crawled to her, transformed into wanna be robots without any experience, without training, unattended and scared just like her. Their chirps sounded like home to her, and she could not understand them fully as they chattered amongst themselves, but they all curled up with the woman, crowded around her body almost like a blanket. It made her feel safe enough to allow herself to close her eyes and perhaps recharge.

"Help me… I need you…" her mind called out to him once more before sleep overtook her battered body.


	6. Chapter 6 - System REstore - Part I

6. System Restore - Part I

**This graphic and it is not pretty. Please keep that in mind when reading this. The purpose is to showcase a dual boot madness behavior, and there's nothing cute and cuddly about it. Promise that in Part II you will get some cuddly... sort of. **

The dawn was foggy and steam raised from the alley up against the buildings. As the rays of sun started to cut through the night, the filth of the city's underbelly became visible. There was nothing pretty and romantic about this part of town, and almost anyone with an ounce of mind would have stayed far, far away. Two gang bangers that happened to stumble down that road, still engulfed in a drunken haze, believed they had hit some major jackpot when they noticed the bloodied woman, passed out on the ground in a puddle, but surrounded by brand new electronics.

"Aww yeah!" he chuckled and poked at his partner "Lookie here man. We have died and gone to mother fuckin' heaven! Bitches and loot included!"

"Yo, shiiit.. Must be dreamin' man! We can make some serious cash on all this shit on the road. Bitch won't care." Added the other man and they moved together to her side. "Grab this shit dude.. fuck… you go put that outta' 'ere and I'm gonna check to see if she's dead or some shit."

The man shuffled his way over to her and knelt down by her side, while his buddy started taking some of the appliances in his arms and pulling them out of the puddle that had gathered underneath. The first one looked over her barely clad frame, and an almost chilling smile crept up his face. She laid there, unprotected, her hospital gown riding up almost all the way over her thighs. Her body was bruised, bloodied, and the tears in her arms where the needles had been were visible, as well as the crimson stains from where she had drained herself into passing out. There were cuts on her hips, her legs, the bottom of her feet, and pretty much everywhere there was exposed skin.

His hand reached out and slowly started lifting her gown, as if the morbidly depraved curiosity which was still fueled by alcohol coursing through his veins, was the only thing that had control of him. Her eyes snapped open, pupils contracting rapidly. There was a quick growl that came from her throat. If she had ever been human, she was not now. There was nothing inside of her that resembled consciousness, but simply primal animal instincts. When her fingers closed around his neck, they sunk into his flesh. She could feel the tightness of his trachea, and before her eyes images flashed, images of her own body, of a human body, layer after layer unveiling before her. Hit here, break there, disarm and disable immediately. Then she pulled. His chocked and muffled sounds filled the alleyway, and then the crunch followed when her fingers sunk through the flesh, and she ripped out his throat.

Wide eyed, gurgling, chocking on his own blood, the man tried to contain the fountain springing from his throat by scrambling back and holding both hands over his throat. Blood was seeping from between his fingers, gushing down his clothes as he now thrashed around the alley and knocked tin cans and trash over in his path. Vanessa was not done.

"HOLY FUCK!" screamed his friend and dropped one of the blenders from his hand. "Bitch you crazy?! " he yelled and pulled out a 45 from the waistband of his shaggy pants. He aimed, and fired and hit her square in the chest, nipped at her right lung and exited out the back. The pain was sharp and her anger rose even more. Before he could let off another shot, the sound of mechanics unfolding to life behind him was heard. He didn't even know what was going on before all the appliances shaped bots proceeded to climb all over him. They shot him, tore at him, clawed at his eyes, scurried all over his body as he fell to his knees. His screams lit up the dawn and they mixed with the sound of torn flesh and clothing.

Vanessa saw her assailant still somewhat moving. She walked over to him, slowly, deliberately. Her eyes scanned him, a clear picture of his body appearing before her eyes. She knew where he was dying, why, and what all was still in one piece inside of him. A quick dismissive glance was cast towards the other man who now lay in pieces against the ground. The small bots were running around each carrying a piece and triumphantly played with what ever trophy they were able to grab. As her attention returned to the dying man before her, she plunged her hand straight into his stomach, right under the rib cage. Her nimble fingers traveled upwards, under the ribs, tearing though the tissue until she found the heart, still beating. Her hand curled up around it and a swift jerk downwards followed by the immediate last exhale of the body under her told her she had accomplished her mission. Vanessa pulled the heart out, still in her hand, and squeezed it as hard as she could. " No spark" she thought and cast it aside.

Frozen eyes turned to the blood dripping down her hand, her forearm, and then down to the ground. She wiped it onto her gown and looked at her shoulder. "Great" she thought to herself while inspecting the wound which was causing her quite some bleeding, and a bit of an issue breathing.

* * *

"We need to go now Bumblebee" Ratchet demanded and then motioned to the motorcycle twins to follow along. Skids poked his head around the corner as well and nodded at the large autobot, a sign that he was going to tag along for the sheer boredom of things.

The medical officer had been tracking the activity for the past day or so, and within the last 30 minutes it had gotten rather hot, and quite entertaining. The signatures were clear, perfectly defined and they were enough to get Ratchet concerned. The autobots had assembled in the large hangar and shifted back into their auto forms, waiting for him to order them out.

"Let's get ready to rumbleeeeee" Bumblebee called out, and as a response, the others revved their engines. Ratchet checked the location one more time and secured an uplink to the compound before snapping back into the automotive form and coming to the front of the pack. They all followed suit in a synchronized purr of motors, with respective holographic drivers and riders appearing for each one of them.

* * *

The commotion had raised the interest of others around the shady neighborhood. Sadly for Vanessa, a bit of a block party had taken place earlier, but by the time she crawled her way down the narrow street, all the partygoers were already passed out from either drugs, alcohol or a sublime mixture of both. When four men walked around the corner, guns in hand, the sight the saw was something out of a horror movie. One friend of their laid dismembered and disemboweled against one building's filthy wall, while the other sported a torn neck and a gaping wound to the stomach. The woman, whose dark long hair was now covered in blood, as well as most of her clothing and skin, stood over the ladder body and watched it in silence.

"Yo bitch!" called one of the guys and pointed the gun straight at her, an action quickly followed by everyone else in the makeshift gang.

Vanessa looked up at him and extended her blood covered hand towards him. From the shadows, her bots spring to life and jumped 2 of the men, while the one looking at her fired one shot, then another and another. They struck her, hit her legs, her arms, one more in the chest. The men began to fight the bots, some tore them apart, others shot them, and in the process gained plenty of impressive wounds themselves. The pain finally settled in her mind. The spark within subsided briefly while it tried to control the damage that her body was taking ever so rapidly. It tried to repair on the fly but couldn't do that, and keep the pain receptors dulled out. That concentration broke, that very desire to survive was replaced by complete confusion, fear, desperation.

Shot after shot, each bullet tearing at her flesh. She fell to her knees and screamed. When the pressure inside her head seemed to subside, another energy burst sprung from her body, and a few more little bots jumped to life and proceeded to terrorize the homes which housed them. They had yet to make it down to the alley.

That madness finally sunk in. It settled so perfectly inside her. Her eyes were blood shot, her limbs did not want to function any more. She wanted to scream out loud, but she had torn the inside of her throat so badly when she pulled the breathing tubes out, that she had yet to heal from it.

Another blast. Blinding light. Sound of mechanical being swarming the street. The thugs started to attack them – she saw that. She saw one of them get dragged into a building by a group of small bots, two more were dead already, and the forth had ran away in pure terror.

"DO NOT FUCK WITH ME!" she thought. That was as human as she got, commanding a language her mind felt comfortable with. Blast after blast of energy pulsated and escaped her. She could see the large autobots get flung back, one after another. Each time the wave was stronger, and each time she hurt more. And then there was nothing but silence.

"Help me" she whispered to herself – her plea to her protector who had forsaken her.

Ratchet walked over and scooped her up in his hand. Quickly he scanned the female and grunted while Bumblebee and the others gathered around him to look at her.

"Aww man, she's messed up. Little sistah got some serious issues! Y'all felt that right? That hurt! " said Skidz .

"We need to hurry back" he said and turned to the others " I have scanned the female and this body is dying rapidly. She has suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and whatever she did, her muscles are torn to pieces" Ratchet handed her over to Bumblebee who tilted his head and held her carefully. Once the medi bot was transformed back, Bee gently placed her inside the large ambulance, and sprung back into his own vehicle form.

**Thank you for your time and the hundreds of views. Feel free to review, give ideas, input, or what ever you would like. Be polite, and remember, your presence here is very much appreciated.**


	7. Chapter 7 - System Restore - Part II

**First off, please know that I have MISSED being here terribly. New job and new schedule has dulled my inspiration, and I think I needed a little bit of a break to try and regain my rhythm. I promise I will try my hardest not to stay away for so long. **

**On to today's Part II of System Restore. This chapter will be a little more pleasant than the prior, with less violence and more good feelings, as promised. **

"MOVE!" called Ratchet as he tore through the compound gates, the doors to the hangar and then down towards the medical lab.

He had already called ahead and notified the human medics about her rapidly deteriorating condition. She had gone in and out of consciousness several times, and he believed firmly that the last time, she was clinically dead. They had to stop on the side of the road and jump-start her again. It was no secret that the body was done, even though something was off about it, and he couldn't explain it right away.

The medical personnel was frantically running around, and just as he opened the door, they scrambled to get her bloodied frame out, and onto an operating table. Several doctors and nurses hovered around her, stuck needles in her arms, hooked her up to machines and tried their best to stabilize her. However, each time they would hook a machine into her, it would go absolutely wild. None of the readings made sense and it was impossible for them to even administer any medication based on the readings. The head doctor took a step back, hands crossed over his chest as he shook his head.

"This is not human… this makes no sense." He admitted and looked up at Ratchet "We can't help her. We can't even hook her up to something, or give her any meds. She is crashing and there isn't shit we can do. Is she one of yours?"

This thought was not foreign to Ratchet. While driving back, he wondered if the human was human at all. He could sense the Spark inside of her, and he felt the energy surge. He knew what it was, but what he didn't know was how to help her. His eyes scanned her slowly and projected onto a massive screen everything going on inside of her. Doctors and nurses looked up in awe. Some murmured and called for God, as the disaster that was her body was quite impressive. None knew how she was still alive. The other Autobots had cleared the room, but Bumblebee sat quietly in a corner and watched. Slight whining could be heard as he shifted anxiously, and on and off his vents would hiss as air was released.

Mechanical tentacles started sliding around the operating table and wrapped around it. Under the table, a suitcase like device was attached. The gears churning were the only things making noise in the lab, that and the two massive Autobots breathing. Everyone else was silent and watching. Ratchet pulled a capsule like enclosure from one side of the room and brought it over next to the table. Being the proactive genius that he was, he could not let go of the idea that a sparkling was floating around, and if Ironhide was the one suspecting it, then something real was going on. He had created a womb for a sparkling, a place for it to mature and gain strength before being moved into an appropriate exoskeleton. Because he had no idea what it looked like, or what size it was, outside Ironhide mentioning it being human, he constructed the device to fit a normal female. If this was real, and she was merged, this device would have been the one hope for her survival.

Suddenly the display blinked on and off, as well as the lights in the room. Everyone looked up and all around. Bumblebee sprung to his feet and the sound of his gun shifting out and spinning up was unmistakable. Ratchet looked around and tilted his head as the sound of glass shaking and small hums became more and more obvious. Once the screen came back on, he realized that the device under the table, a cortex modulator, was hooked into the back of her head, tied into her cerebral cortex and fully linked with her. Autobot symbols scrolled over the screen almost like a system rebooting. But he knew the modulator was not in control. She was.

"Get down!" he managed to warn the humans in the room, and they all ducked in unison as vials started flying from the shelves and glass broke everywhere.

Above her frame, a swarm of metallic dust converged in an orderly fashion, as the body convulsed and thrashed about. Bumblebee rushed to the side of the table, but Ratchet placed a massive arm in front of him and shook his head. Bumblebee knew to listed, and he lowered his gun.

"Get up…" he motioned to the doctors and walked over to the table to watch her. "She took control of the microbots and the nanobots in the lab. She is using it to rebuild herself" he explained and pointed to the screen where a map of her body was showing the patterns in which the tiny robots were working.

"What is she ?" asked the chief surgeon with confusion clear in his voice.

"A hybrid" Ratchet quickly blurted out, but in reality he didn't know either.

Her mind was in rebuild mode, very much like a computer rebuilding the Operating System, working at a registry level. It dumped information into the core of the cell like bots and sent them on their way to repair what ever tissues they could. There was no way to regenerate the damage, but where the flesh was torn, the bots could replicate and collectively bond with the material. The Spark inside her made sure that the programming was getting transferred from human cell to biomechanical organism, and was running both as an integral part of an exoskeleton. This Spark, the AllSpark itself, was learning a new way to melt living tissue with Autobot and Decepticon technology. There was no way to break the cycle and to pull her out of it. He had to keep her hooked up to the cortex modulator and transfer her over into the capsule. That environment was designed with the sole purpose to keep younglings alive, with stable influxes of energy and moderate conditions in which spikes and abnormalities were not going to interfere with the rebuild process or the growth process. Perhaps when Ironhide returned, he could check to see if this was the one he was looking for.

Massive hands slid under the table, and a soft electrical pulse caused the legs of the table to snap shut underneath it. The capsule hissed open, and he placed the table inside upright. Clasps snapped into place and autonomous links and hoses locked up to her body as if they had a mind of their own. Instinctively the parameters of the capsule's environment triggered core responses from her boot sequence and got assimilated in the process, almost like a software driver being requested during an install. He stepped back and watched the glass door slide over her, then heard the sound of the seal locking into place.

"We just wait now" he informed them.

**You know the drill. Thank you a billion times for reading! Soon Miss Vanessa will get to meet Ironhide, and I do promise you quite the entertaining get together with the fiancé. **


	8. Chapter 8 - Alchemy

8. Alchemy

**The time has come to actually get these two to meet. I do not know which way Vanessa is going to go. I genuinely allow the character to write itself and I simply speak for it. So if you were to ask me how this story will unfold, at this time I would be unable to tell you. So enjoy the journey with me, as we discover her together ****J**

The panic that had ensued at the hospital was almost indescribable. Police officers was scouring the building and the nearby area looking for Vanessa. Her fiancé was in a total panic, and no matter how hard he tried to revert to his agent training, he found it impossible. His family was along his side, talking to the police and the investigators. Military got called in especially once reports of the dismembered bodies came in. They wondered if this was not the work of Decepticons who wanted her for the information she had on the Allspark and her ability to read the ancient languages. With them you never knew, and as Optimus had warned several times prior, the war was never really over.

* * *

No one had to tell him where to go. Ironhide knew the way and he was almost on a mission. He knew it the moment he had gotten close to the compound. That feeling of her presence was there. Optimus had felt something as well, but it was Ironhide's attitude, him speeding past the leader of the convoy and almost busting through the front gates, that confirmed something was happening.

"You alright there big guy?" asked Lennox while still behind the wheel of the massive pickup. He was visibly concerned about the way his Weapon's Officer was acting.

"Get out" thundered the truck and Lennox scrambled to jump out of the car as the door flung open. The man stumbled to his feet and got out of the way of the Autobots while they drove in. The other trucks carrying his men pulled up beside him as the soldiers started to unload. He narrowed his eyes and watched Ironhide not skip a beat and transform mid stride as he headed out to the Med Lab with Optimus in tow.

"Perfect timing" stated Ratchet and wanted to motion for the others to come take a look. No one cared for introductions.

Ratchet had been monitoring her vitals for 10 hours now, and everything had stabilized. The lights in the capsule had gone dark, a sign that she had gone into sleep mode. The mapping of the microbots inside her still showed repairs going on, but for the most part, it appeared that at least the structural damage was repaired. She was at 30% mechanical components after her little adventure, but at least she was alive. In the time she was out, they had managed to isolate her signal, and it became obvious that there was a shard of the Energon cube lodged inside her heart. They could only suspect that this had occurred once the cube was merged with Megatron's spark, and that the resulting energy blast might have splintered it, causing It to gravitate to her as a suitable new host for the energy within.

No one knew in what state her mind was. Ratchet could not even speculate to that. Was it the Spark in charge, was it the AllSpark itself, was it her own consciousness or a combination of the two? Was she running autonomously, or still in a rebuild mode, with limited interaction to the outside world? He dared not attempt linking with her. Back in the alley, the display of power was more than enough to make any of the bots leery enough and cause them to keep their distance. Well most of them anyway, because Bumblebee was inexplicably fascinated with her, and refused to leave the capsule's side the entire time.

Ironhide stood there, a few feet away from the capsule and grumbled to himself. One might have believed that he was somewhat nervous. Optimus transformed behind him, the sound of his form shifting filled the room with the delicious symphony of a perfectly designed mechanical body. Under the cover of his transformation, Lennox slipped in quietly and tapped Optimus' leg to make his presence aware. Optimus shook his hand at him in a motion to remain silent, and watched Ironhide intently.

His massive hands gripped the sides of the capsule and rotated it to face him fully. He sighed, dark smoke puffing up in the air as he knelt down and placed his forehead against the glass door, eyes winding shut. More people poured into the room, doctors that were equally intrigued and scared of what was residing in their lab. They all watched.

All of a sudden the lights inside the capsule came on, bright, almost blinding, pushing the bulbs to the breaking point, and the sound of flesh and metal hitting glass filled the room. Bright blue eyes peered from behind the glass cover and both of her hands were pressed against the inside of the glass towards his face as if trying to break through and get to him. Ironhide was actually startled and pulled back an inch, his eyes opening rapidly to look at her. Ratchet pushed past some of the doctors and went to review the readings on the big monitor, while side scanning her body for any issues. "She is rebooted" he murmured.

The hoses and clamps that held her were now sliding back into their housings and releasing her body. She was simply resting against the table, leaning back but almost vertical. The glass door slid open and her delicate hands reached out for him, for his face. If there was anyone else there, in that moment they all slipped away from their reality. Ironhide leaned in, and those warm tiny hands touched the cold metal of his face. He gasped, as much as a robot could, and his entire frame instantly relaxed in front of her. He leaned in even more, making it easier for her to reach all areas of his face.

"I swear if she gonna kiss that ugly mug I'm gonna hurl" Skidz commented and was quickly met with a loud crack upside the head from Bumblebee who flat out snarled at him. Optimus cast him an unforgiving glance.

The table like stand she was on pushed forward and further out of the capsule. Now, she guided his head further down towards her, and she placed her forehead against his mouth, hands on each side of his face. Her eyes closed and she exhaled loudly.

* * *

"What do I do?" she asked a little confused while holding his hand.

He looked human, nothing like the machine before her. Tall, perhaps overly muscular with long black hair and braids that were coming from each side of his temples. There was a scar on his cheek, and several down his chest.

"This makes no sense to me" she added and leaned against him.

He wrapped his arms around her while pulling her down to sit against the one massive tree in the area. This place, for whatever reason, always came up in her mind whenever she linked with him. One tree, old as the earth, with a massive crown that cast a welcomed shadow under an unforgiving sun, and which was located way too close to the edge of the canyon, the Grand Canyon. The sky was bright, but there was no discernable sun. His appearance was just her human mind's reading of his attitude, perhaps a conversion assisted by the AllSpark which took the Autobot's exoskeleton features and mapped them to known images in her human mind, accurately proportionate and viable. Her naked back leaned against his chest, but she couldn't feel warmth. She did however, feel absolute safety as massive arms entrapped her in an embrace and just held her tightly.

"I don't have an answer for you" he admitted while leaning his chin on the top of her head. "But I do know you need to dream up some clothes for yourself. I'm sure that's supposed to happen. You even came up with pants for me" he snickered.

Vanessa shrugged and looked down at her body, her human body. Her mind struggled to understand why all this was happening, and what part of her was her, what part was the spark. She felt no real connection to her form, and it appeared to be nothing more than a shell. But what she did feel, was a sense of recharge and power that was addictive, each time she was around him.

"I tell you what. We can't stay locked up in here forever" he added and turned her to face him.

She sat between his legs now, facing him, her own legs crossed Indian style, and her arms were crossed over her chest, while her face was ever so beautifully adorned with a smirk.

"We can't stay here because?" she asked almost sarcastically before rolling her eyes "I can't function there. I don't know who or what I am. I have memories of both worlds and they fight in my head, and scream and tear at the very fabric of my reality. It's like there is more to me than a Spark, and more than this human body. It flips back and forth and I have no control." She stopped and looked at him. One hand reached out to touch the side of his face, fingers trailing over his scar, and down over his lips " I know this isn't real, and I can feel it in the back of my mind on how it should feel.. and I don't want to touch this flesh, I want the metal, the logic, the well organized structure that we.. that you are. And yet.. here I am… reaching out to you, feeling compelled to just touch you all over because somewhere, this mind knows what it feels like to be human. "

Ironhide wrapped his fingers around her hand and placed it back in her lap, still holding on to it.

"This… I'm not good at this ok. I'm good at killing and blowing stuff up, and being an overall smartass. Your spark and mine, they are linked. Hell if I know how. I'm not the fatherly and nurturing kind. It feels like a sparkmate, I suppose, but I know that's not it either. " he grunted to himself and then perked up "Optimus would know… you feel more like him than like me." He continued and smiled at her. It was a compliment after all. She did feel more like a prime than a regular Autobot, and the power with which she always sucked him into this reality was quite fascinating. "We have to go" he added.

* * *

"Do you have ANY idea who this is ?" Lennox asked and pointed at Vanessa, still in her linked state with Ironhide. He was clearly unhappy about it.

"Yes, I do, strangely enough" Optimus admitted and folded his arms over his chest with the ever familiar metallic hiss of his body. "I have worked with her and her mate when we got here. Quite a brilliant mind"

"Yes! Which is why I'm thinking that the shard chose her for a new host. All that knowledge actually makes sense to her. Her brain is already wired to digest it and understand it" Ratchet added almost as if a revelation had hit him. "This is how she commands the energy when her human mind is shutdown. But Optimus…she, it, whatever this is, feels more like you in its signature, than like Ironhide and I"

"Oh come on! You don't get it!" Lennox exclaimed and walked over to her. He turned to look at Optimus and Ratchet while pointing with both hands at the two who were in their own little reality "This is not good! There is metal in her! On her.. this is some half breed, mixture, love child of Skids and an Amsterdam hooker like deal. This will cause sooo many problems for us. The CIA will be all over us so damn fast, and so far up our asses, that we will need the fucking jaws of life to pry them out of us!"

"Calm down Major" Optimus interjected. "There is no need to panic."

"He is correct" added Ratchet. "We just need to teach her how to boot up in her human mind, while maintaining control of her spark" he looked at Optimus who narrowed his eyes.

"Well, I suppose I might as well reintroduce myself", he then looked at Ratchet "Shut her down. I need to speak to Ironhide before we determine how to proceed."

Ratchet moved closer to the capsule and hooked himself up into the controls. The Cortex modulator was still attached. Optimus knew how to shut down a Sparkling, even that of a prime, and within moments, her own energy overtook her functions, forcing her to go limp and almost fall from her standing position, but for the quick movement of Bumblebee who held her up with his hand and waited for the clamps in the capsule to take hold of her body once more. A light groan came as Ironhide opened his eyes and looked at her fragile frame. He seemed almost sad, and to Bee's confusion, he appeared reluctant to leave her side. A quick glance was exchanged with Optimus, and he got up, slowly moving towards him. Lennox was frantically talking, but he couldn't hear the human. His right arm shifted and wined into the massive gun as he pointed it at the man. Lennox threw his hands in the air and stepped back "Touchy ain't we" he grumbled.

"We must talk" Optimus gravely announced, and the other Autobot nodded in understanding.


End file.
